The North Dakota State College of Science Registered Nursing (RN) program has received a No. 1 ranking out of 1,805 other registered nursing programs in the United States. This ranking, which was recently reported by Mountain Measurements, Inc., is determined by the yearly National Council of Licensing Exam (NCLEX-RN) results.

Twenty-three NDSCS nursing graduates took the NCLEX-RN exam last spring, making 2012 the third consecutive year in which the NDSCS ASN-RN program has achieved a 100 percent, first attempt pass rate.

"A special thank you goes out to our students, faculty, staff and especially our clinical affiliations -they are a critical part of the educational process and without their commitment and partnership, this continuous achievement would not be possible," said Ruth Gladen, ASN-RN program coordinator and associate professor.

This marks the eighth year that NDSCS will offer a registered nursing program. Students in the program graduate with an Associate in Science in Nursing (A.S.N.) degree and are eligible for the National Council Licensure Exam for registered nurses (NCLEX-RN).

"I chose NDSCS to complete my RN degree because I knew they had a very high quality program and students were consistently achieving 100 percent NCLEX-RN pass rates," said Amanda Sadowsky, former NDSCS 2012 ASN-RN graduate. "This program was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life and prepared me to enter the workplace as a confident RN."